LAMAR, Colo. – Shintaro Inoue broke two career records Monday as the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team picked up two wins over Lamar Community College on Monday.
Inoue broke the career runs scored record in the first game when the Cougars won 8-2. Inoue then broke the career home run record when he had a solo home run in the eighth inning of game two as the Cougars won 10-1.
WNCC swept Lamar in the 4-game Empire Conference series to move to 20-19 overall and remains on top of the conference standings at 11-1. Southeast Community College is second in the conference at 10-2 followed by McCook Community College is 7-3 and Otero College fourth at 5-5.
WNCC will have Otero, Southeast, and McCook in contest over the next three weekends. The Rattlers come to Cleveland Field this weekend for a 4-game series on Saturday and Sunday with Saturday's action beginning at 1 p.m. WNCC travels to Southeast April 20-21 for a key series as well.
Inoue's two records this weekend saw Inoue break the career runs scored that was held by Pete Rogers (2003, 2004) and Jared Myers (2002, 2003) who each had 92 runs. Inoue broke the home record that was held by Rogers with 24. Inoue now has 25 home runs and 96 runs scored. He is nearing another record of career RBIs. Inoue currently has 93 and needs 18 more to break the mark that Rogers holds of 110 RBIs.
Monday's wins, however, was not all Inoue as the Cougars put together a team effort from offense, defense, and pitching.
In game one, Valentin Blanc tossed a complete game in scattering 11 hits but only allowing two runs while striking out six.
Offensively, the Cougars had 10 hits with Inoue leading the way with a 3-for-3 game with three RBIs and two runs scored with a double. Bryce Peterson and Ashton Ross each had two hits in the win.
A big key in the first-game win was how the Cougars started the game and ended the game. WNCC plated three runs in the first for a quick 3-0 lead. Dylan Harris and Hunter McCollum reached base on free passes. Inoue then smacked a double to score both runs. Inoue later scored on a Tyler Easter sacrifice Fly.
Lamar plated one in the third to make it 3-1. WNCC added two in the fifth on singles by Harris and Inoue and McCollum getting hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded, Peterson singled in two runs for the 5-1 lead.
Lamar made it 5-2 after a run in the sixth. WNCC responded in the seventh with three insurance runs. McCollum started the inning with a double and scored on an Inoue single. Ross then plated the final two runs with a single for the 8-2 win.
The second game was a 9-inning contest and the Cougars dominated from start to finish with timely hitting and an outstanding pitching performance from Nick Tremblay and Rocco Harmon. Tremblay went six innings in allowing just three hits and one run while striking out 10 batters.
Harmon finished off the game with three innings of shut-out ball in allowing just one hit and striking out five. The two WNCC pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts out of the 27 possible outs.
Offensively, WNCC had nine hits with six extra base hits. Inoue and Ross each had two hits. Inoue had three RBIs with two runs scored and a home run, while Ross had two runs scored with a double.
Arturo Montiel also had a home run with two RBIs in the contest. Peterson had a home run with two RBIs.
WNCC scored first in game two with two in the second on a Montiel 2-run home run. WNCC kept the offense going as they scored in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to lead 9-0. The fourth saw Ross get a double and then scoring on a Kensei Oikawa single. Oikawa later scored on a Caciari single and scored on errors.
The fifth saw WNCC plate three runs, beginning McCollum's lead-off triple. McCollum then scored on an Inoue double. Peterson followed with a 2-run home run to make it 7-0.
The sixth saw five straight walks delivered from the Lamar pitcher with Inoue walking to force in the first run and then Caciari later scored on a wild pitch.
Lamar scored their only run in the bottom of the sixth after a lead-off triple and then a sacrifice fly. That run was answered in the eighth when Inoue rewrote the WNCC home run record books with a solo home run that was his 25th of his career at WNCC. He know has 10 home runs on the season.
Game 1
WNCC 300 020 3 – 8 10 0
Lamar 001 001 0 – 2 11 1
WP – Valentin Blanc.
2B – Hunter McCollum, Shintaro Inoue.
Game 2
WNCC 020 232 010 – 10 9 0
Lamar 000 001 000 – 1 4 3
WP – Nick Tremblay.
2B – Ashton Ross, Shintaro Inoue.
3B – Hunter McCollum.
HR – Arturo Montiel, Shintaro Inoue, Bryce Peterson.